Rajaratha's journey was beautiful and emotional: Avantika Shetty

Avantika Shetty, who made her Kannada debut with Rangitaranga, says she’s just as excited for Rajaratha, which is finally set for release this week. And since this is a bilingual, the actor will be making her Telugu debut with this film.

She says a lot of hardwork and sacrifice has gone into ensuring that Rajaratha hits the theatres. "The expectations are high because it is a film by the makers of Rangitaranga," she adds.

Rajaratha is Avantika’s fourth film, and she says that playing the role of Megha was a new experience for her. The film revolves around a bus journey with Rajaratha (Puneeth Rajkumar) narrating the story to the audience. He tells audience about Abhi (Nirup Bhandari) and Megha, and their love story. "Since Megha is Abhi’s love interest, I get a little more screen space than other characters," she laughs.

Could Avantika connect with Megha in real life? "She is fresh out of college - a goody-good girl, who is very lovable and fun loving. In reality, I am more like Sandhya of Rangitaranga than Megha. But the latter has got into my system now, so I have pretty much started thinking and acting like her." So much so that the character has even seeped into her wardrobe choices. "Earlier, I would not wear the clothes Megha does; I'd never choose pink all the time, for instance. But these days, whenever I go shopping, my sister asks me why I’ve been picking out pink clothes. She even said I have now become a 'typical girl'. Megha has made me love pink. But one thing about Megha that I believe I also follow is living in the present," she adds.

Avantika says that working with the Rangitaranga team, including director Anup Bhandari and actor Nirup Bhandari, was a breeze. "With Rajaratha, I got closer to Anup, which was not the case when I did Rangitaranga. Back then I used to hang out a lot with Nirup and Radhika Chetan, but my bond with Anup has grown now. He is my guardian angel. Sometimes, when I worry, I look out for him. And when he is around, I feel my mother is around to take care of me. That is the vibe I share with him."

The actor says that apart from content and execution, a good team is very important, and claims the Rajaratha crew is an example of this. "From the light boy and makeup artists, to the actors and technicians, nobody said that they were doing an Anup Bhandari film. They'd all say, this is 'our' film. The sense of belonging is so much that everybody put their best foot forward," she says.

Avantika signs off saying, "Rajaratha’s journey has almost come to an end, and it was beautiful and emotional. I want my career to be filled with such projects."